Christmas

As far as I am concerned the best part about Christmas is Christ. I love the feeling I get while listening to the songs that talk about Him. I also love the feelin after doin service or just plain givin. I have long since not worried about whether or not others were givin something to me to make my decision about givin them somethin. After our branch activity of caroling at a retirement home, a few of my friends and I went and moved a couple of couches for a guy. Gettin them in the one basement didn't work so we revamped our plans and took the couch and recliner from upstairs down. I felt pretty good after that. I have a tendency to like to be the one behind the scenes that could care less about recognition, I do it for the feelin I get and rarely do I not help when asked. But back to beginnins of this blog bein about Christ, He lived his life in service of all mankind which is why celebratin His birth is so special. He came to this earth for each and everyone of us, He lived and died so we could return to be with Him and Heavenly Father someday. Serving others around this time and all the times throughout the year will bring us closer to Him. My wish is that we all had a Merry Christmas and will remember Christ in all we do.

Snow

So last year I decided to invest in a helmet for snowboarding and yesterday I was really glad I did. I rolled over a couple times while snowboarding and am sure those would of hurt my head a whole lot worse without it. In fast and testimony meeting today Keith was talking about the things he loved to do and one of which is snowboarding. Which has me thinkin bout how I feel about it, I love it so much that I wish I could do it all year round. That is a big part of the reason I got on Kelly Canyon's ski patrol cause then I can do something I love and be doin service at the same time. If any of you have been payin attention to my status's on facebook I talk about snow alot that is because I love it. I also realized the other things in my life that I really love, My Family, The Gospel, The Temple, Country Dancing, Service. My life revolves around the things I love, I put the Gospel first, then my family, and whatever else needs to get done. A lot of times I put myself so far off the list that it seems like I don't have anytime for me, but that's just it as far as I am concerned I am happiest when I am helping those around me out. So in turn by puttin others first I still get my needs met. I will go and do whatever it is that God asks me to do.

There ya go another blip into the random thoughts of my head

Random Travels

This month I have pretty much been traveling all over the place. The first part of the month I was in Anchorage Alaska for my big brothers wedding. That trip was interesting, I ended up playin DD (Designated Driver) for my brother's bachelor party, watchin a bunch of half typsy guys play frisbee golf was pretty funny. That was a long day, I was up for about 27 hours straight. The sucky part about that trip was it was too late to go snowboardin and to early to fish and almost any tourist activities. But I did get to go through the Anchorage Temple while I was there, that was really cool, I love those places. Then the last two weeks I have been on the road for work training the new guy. We have covered somewhere in the neighborhood of 4000 miles. The plus to it is I was able to stop by the Stetson Hat outlet in St Joseph and get a new cowboy hat for quite a bit less than I could anywhere else, half price. Last weekend I got to go to Nauvoo and go through the Nauvoo temple while there, another awesome experience. I have seen some pretty country and covered lots of ground. I always love the chance to go to temples that I haven't been too yet. But alas I am ready to be home, I have only been home for two days so far in the month of May. I will be glad to be home for a while.

It's not enogh to believe in Christ

Given that it was Easter Sunday and that I started rereading the book Believing Christ, I have been pondering the Atonement alot lately. I believe full heartedly that it is not enough to just believe in Christ, we must believe Christ. I believe in Christ with all my heart but I also believe that He atoned for our sins. I believe that the only way for us to reach perfection is to believe Christ when He tells us that He atoned for our sins and that through Him we can become perfect and live with our Heavenly Father and Christ again someday. I know that He died for me and each and everyone of us I know that I am a sinner, we all are. I know that it is not where we've been but it is where we are going that matters, we all make mistakes, some more than others and different than others. I know that if we just come to Him, He can make us perfect He died and suffered for all of our sins, we just have to believe Him. Try our best, and when we fall He will make up the difference. I do know that my life would suck if it weren't for Him. This life is a test and I will do my best to look at it like an optomist, cause it is too short not too. I know that through Christ I can return to live with Him and Heavenly Father. I highly recomend the book Believing Christ it helped me to better understand the Atonement and to realize that it is there for all of us. God loved us all so much that He sent His only Begotten Son to be our Savior and that Christ suffered for us. I probably repeated myself a bunch up here, but I do feel it is very important for each and everyone of us to believe Christ not just believe in Him.

The End

I am sad to say that this is the end of my snowboard season. I was gonna go one last time today but my cousin can't get off work, he has to many cars to fix. It's all good, I had an awesome board day last saturday. Ridin with two really good friends, Rachel and Keith. Keith has been my ridin buddy for a few years now, our ridin styles are pretty similar. Rachel has just acquired the sport this year, she has picked it up pretty well she is gettin better every time I watch her ride. Although it baffles me, when she is on her toe edge she does pretty good regular but as soon as she goes heel edge her stance is better goofy, and she has issues pushin her board with a foot unstrapped in goofy. It just means I got my work cut out for me to turn her into a real boarder. It was a gorgeous day, the first time that I have ever rode in just a sweatshirt and board pants, we're talkin 60 degree weather for boardin, sucks for the snow in the end of the day but it was still a blast. Word to the wise, pay really close attention to your speed in Albion Idaho, the cop will pull ya over if ya don't. I slowed down to the speed limit but was busy talkin with Rachel and Keith and wasn't payin attention to how fast I was goin. Oops oh well, now I just have a good story for the last ride of the season. Bring on Wakeboard season I am ready to play that way!!!!

SURPRISE!!!!

So this year I was expectin my birthday to kinda slide by without anything really happenin. My friends seemed to have other things in mind. As usual on Wednesday night I went country dancin the day before my birthday. Apparently during the RS dinner that night Alyssa and Deatra decided they were gonna throw a surprise birthday party at my house when I got home that night. On the way home Dave calls Deatra to tell her where we are at, shoulda given it away but I really didn't think anything of it because I was tired and not really thinkin. We get back I look over and see Sara's car, I think that looks like Sara's car and then I just blow it off and forget about it. I walk in the house after pullin my truck in the garage, stop for a second as I am turnin around the lights turn on and about a dozen people or so yell surprise. I jump probably close to a foot off the ground and drop the things in my hands. SO MUCH for gettin by with nothin happenin. I love my friends they sure mad me feel good that night and the day of my birthday! Lucky for them I was tired and didn't pick up on the things that woulda given it away.

It's Official

It's official, I am insane. Ok not really, but I am officially on the Kelly Canyon Ski Patrol now. I have made a bunch of new friends on the patrol, I enjoy riding and working right beside each one of them. I know I can learn alot from them as well as the good feelings that it brings inside when I know I am helping somebody. Last Saturday I signed up for a double shift, and the way it turned out I shoulda just pulled a triple but I had to get my friend Keith back home to his wife. I quite enjoy the handling of the toboggan, it really is easy to run and kinda enjoyable. The only thing is I feel bad for the ones that get hurt that are catching a ride in the toboggan. But all in all it is pretty cool to watch and be a part of the group of patrollers that so willingly help those that come to play on the hill. It was kinda funny the other day, I was playin teacher helping Rachel get better at boardin and I lost track of time. I was just a hair late for sweep, I think I learned some bad habits from my instructor this year. Oh well it is all good. I don't know what could be better, I get to do something I love while serving others. I just reallized I already blogged about makin it on the patrol but oh well. I have enjoyed every bit of it so far, even the times when I am busy helpin people non stop instead of playing.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Have ya ever had those moments where as soon as the words come out of your mouth you think oh crap did I just say that? I seem to be doin quite well at that this last week, the one even got deemed worthy of bein put on a friends quote wall. Here is the conversation that took place on that one, Deatra says somethin like " a lady will come help with the heavy lifting" I say " Since when have you been a lady." Total open mouth insert foot moment, one of the great cases of your mouth running before your brain figures out what it is saying. I have had a few more moments like that this week, it is really quite annoyin when that happens cause whatever you were trying to say doesn't come out the way you intended it. Oh well it all works, I know I won't live those moments down for a while but at least all involved are laughing about it now. Moral of this story is to do your best at thinking before you speak.

Ski Patrol

Hooray for me, I got all my tests taken care of now. Which means I can now be on the patrol fro Kelly Canyon Ski Resort. I am glad, today was the last set of tests for the patrol(yes I know today is Sunday, I would not of been there if it wasn't required). I passed all of them, but truth be told I hate tests, I always get nervous when I know I have people watching me to see how I do. My instructor told me he wanted to slap me because I went back into old habits while doing my testing runs, luckily for me the test evaluators were skiers so they didn't know exactly what to look for like my instructor did. Right before the test ended they made us climb up the hill with our boards attached to our feet, not an easy task but try doin the same thing on fast Sunday when you haven't ate anything since dinner the night before, that's even more difficult. As soon as I finished visiting with the evaluators I got out of my board gear and headed home. I did this because it was Sunday and I was only gonna be there as long as I needed to be, which is the same thing I did last year on the ride with patrol day(tryouts) and last week which was another one of the required days. If this was about 8 years ago it wouldn't of phased me to be boardin on Sunday, but now I understand the day as well as feel differently bout the day. I am glad to be done with training, I still need to work on my EMT skills but that will come with time, I have been doing stuff two days a week or so for this since the beginning of September. But as far as I am concerned it is well worth it, I get to ride with a bunch of great people who are willing to help others and just get to go play around when riding. I have learned some new spots that are awesome powder runs and I have made new friends. It is also a way I can return service to people with the skills God has granted me. Now that I have no more required days on Sunday I can return to bein an active member in my branch. Hope I didn't bore any of you to much.

Good Intentions

I always wonder why do good intentions end up flopping. Ya start somethin out with good intentions and it all seems to go wrong. I am tryin to be a good example for those close to me and then get told I am tryin to push people away because I am gettin to religious. I don't want to push people away especially my family, they mean the world to me I want more than anything for my family to be sealed for time and all eternity. I can't imagine livin forever without my mama or my papa, that would just stink. I know how I feel when people try to push things on me and I don't think I am tryin to push the church on my family, but maybe I am and I just need to back off. I am gonna do my best to not push it on them, I think they are closer than they have been in years and I know it takes time. It took quite a bit of time for me to get to where I am and how I feel about Christ, the church, life and everything else. I know I would be lost if I didn't have Him in my life and His church. I completely and totally agree with the song by Luke Bryan (Yes it is country) called Pray About Everything, I may not always do the best at prayin about everything but I try. I do know I feel better about life and the way things are turnin out when I do pray and read my scriptures. I love my family and my friends more than anyone of them know, all any of them have to do is ask and I will be there to help if possible. Things may not always turn out the way I want them to but I always have good intentions with what I do. If I offend any of you ever I apologize, I don't intend to do that.